Typed Letter Signed from J. B. Priestley to E. M. Forster, accusing him of being 'in the wrong' regarding a Society of Authors questionnaire on National Service. With Autograph Copy and Typed Copy by Forster of letters by him to the Society.

Author: 
J. B. Priestley [E. M. Forster; Denys Kilham Roberts (1903-1976), of the Society of Authors]
Publication details: 
Priestley's letter to Forster: 3 The Grove, Highgate Village, London; 25 May 1939.
£400.00
SKU: 11185

Forster's main objection is that the National Service questionnaire, sent out by the Society of Authors 'at the suggestion of the Ministry of Labour', asks members to 'give general particulars of their political opinions' (see Hansard, 25 May 1939). Four items. ONE. Priestley's letter, addressed to 'My dear Forster' by 'J. B. Priestley'. 1 p, 4to. Twenty lines. Fair, on aged paper. Priestley writes that although he is 'still described as being a member of the committee', he 'has assumed for the past twelve months that I am no longer a member', and has 'not been to a meeting for a long time'. He has 'already had a letter from somebody at the Council for Civil Liberties about this concluding clause in the questionnaire and I can only repeat to you what I said to them, that it seems to me perfectly sensible in an enquiry of this kind to ask those questions and that I do not believe for a moment that there is any sinister intention behind it, nor is an author compelled to answer it at all.' Forster's autograph comment on the last clause is 'misses the point'. In a sarcastic reference to Forster, Priestley writes: 'obviously it is no good asking a confirmed pacifist to write an enthusiastic article describing the bayonet practice of the Gordon Highlanders. No, it seems to me that here Kilham Roberts is in the right and you are in the wrong.' He ends, by way of conciliation, 'When are we to see you again?' Accompanying Priestley's letter are three other items. TWO. Typed 'Copy of letter from E. M. F.' to Kilham Roberts, 19 May 1939. On aged and lightly-stained paper. Headed in autograph by Forster 'Please return to West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking.' Three incidental corrections in autograph by Forster. Begins 'I did not myself like clause (w) in the recent questionnaire, and now that two of our members have complained about it to me independently, I feel I must trouble you with a line.' Asks whether 'the questionnaire was drawn up by the Committee, or wa[s] it transmitted by them from the Ministry of Labour?' Although mostly 'concerned with the literary qualifications and the celebrity-value of authors', and 'quite unobjectionable', 'clause (w) is another matter. It deals with topics which the Committee has no right to question its members upon, no right, anyhow, in peace time'. Ends: 'Authors - especially young authors - do not always wish their political opinions to be known or conjectured, and I feel that the Committee has shown less than its usual discretion in countenancing this particular clause.' THREE: 'Copy from letter to K[ilham]. R[oberts]. from E. M. F.', 6 June 1939, in Forster's autograph. 8vo, 1 p. Thirteen lines. Fair, on aged and lightly-stained paper. Ends 'At present we are all of us, including Fascists and Communists, free to hold our political opinions. But this freedom may not remain.' FOUR: Undated typed 'Copy of a letter sent by Mr Kilham Roberts to another member of the Society; and sent also by him to E. M. F. as a reply to the latter's criticism.' 4to, 1 p. Twenty-three lines. On worn and aged paper. An author's views of Communism, for instance, might well make the difference between his services being enlisted in connexion with Russia on the one hand or [S]pain on the other[.] An extreme pacifist would clearly be unsuitable for propaganda designed to increase the size of the army. | If square pegs in round holes are to be avoided it is best to take steps now and not wait until hostilities have broken out and so add avoidable confusion and delay to the difficulties of the situation. And that seems to be the view taken by all but two or three of the two thousand or so authors who have already completed and returned the Questionnaire which, as was explained in the covering letter, any author is perfectly at liberty to ignore if he wishes.'